Processing machine, particularly a packing machine



May 7, 1968 P. GRAF 3,382,488

PROCESSING MACHINE, PARTICULARLY A PACKING MACHINE] Filed Jan. 26, 19664 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 7, 1968 P. GRAF 3,382,488

PROCESSING MACHINE, PARTICULARLY A PACKING MACHINE Filed Jan. 26, 1966 4Sheets-Sheet 2 May 7, 1968 3,382,488

PARTICULARLY A PACKING MACHINE P. GRAF PROCESSING MACHINE 1 4Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan.

Fig. 6

May 7, 1968 P. GRAF 3,382,488

Pnocassmo MACHINE. PARTICULARLY A mamas mamas Filed Jan. 26, 1966 4Sheets-Sheet 4 United States Patent 3,382,488 PROCESSING MACHINE,PARTICULARLY A PACKING MACHINE Paul Grat, Neuhausen am Rheinfall,Switzerland, assignor to Schweizerische Industrie-Gesellschaft,Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Switzerland Filed Jan. 26, 1966, Ser. No.523,199 Claims priority, application Switzerland, Jan. 29, 1965,1,239/65 8 Claims. (Cl. 340-1725) The invention relates to a timingdevice for controlling the joining of the trailing and leading ends oftwo webs being fed successively to a processing machine, such as apacking machine, whilst maintaining predetermined spacings betweencentering markings provided on the webs, wherein the leading end of thesecond material web is held in preparation, at the mouth of a pair ofdisplaceable rollers between which the other web runs, said rollersbeing adapted to be pressed one against the other for connecting thetrailing end of the first material web with the leading end of thesecond material web.

It is often the case that when objects are to be wrapped or packed bymachines, the wrapping material is provided with imprints or legendswhich must appear in certain predetermined positions on the wrappedobject. The printed wrapping material is supplied wound on storagereels. It is known to arrange two mountings for these storage reelsalongside the packing machine. Whilst one reel is being used, the secondreel can be prepared on its mounting and its leading end is fed into themachine when the first web is used up. Hitherto it has been necessary tostop the packing machine for feeding and aligning the leading end of anew material web. The trailing end of the old material web was alwaysjoined by glueing to the leading end of the new web. The material webscarry regularly spaced centering marks which are provided simultaneouslywith the printing. When the two ends of two strips of webs are joined,care must be taken that the correct distance is mentioned between thelast centering mark on the used web and the first on the new web.

The stopping of the packing machine for joining the end of the used webto the leading end of the new web causes an undesirable interruption ofthe operation. The invention seeks to provide a device whereby thisoperation may be efiected automatically, without having to stop themachine.

According to the present invention there is provided a timing devicecomprising a sensing member capable of r being actuated by the trailingend to initiate a signal for joining the ends together, the signal beingstored in a memory at least until effective joining can take place and asignal transmitter synchronized with the machine or with the passage ofthe material web carrying periodically repeated imprints to trigger offthe joining if the memory contains a signal transmitted by the sensingmember.

The invention will be further described, by way of example, withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows diagrammatically a device according to the invention;

FIG. 2 shows on an enlarged scale, the rollers supplying the materialwebs;

FIG. 3 shows two possibilities of joining the trailing end of the usedmaterial web to the leading end of the new material web;

FIGS. 4 and S are a top view and side elevation, respectively, of amechanical memory for operating the contact member of the rollersconnecting the material webs;

FIG. 6 is an electric circuit diagram of the said memory;

FIGS. 7 and 8 are details of another embodiment, using a differentstorage principle.

A machine, shown only diagrammatically in FIG. 1, for example a packingmachine 1, receives a web of material 2a, from which the machine makeswrappers. The web 2a is provided with imprints, not shown, and withcentering marks 3, the position of which are indicated by short linesperpendicular to the web in FIG. 1. These centering marks 3 areequidistantly spaced apart by a distance 1: (FIG. 3). The web 2a isreeled off a storage reel 4, mounted in a support 50. A similar support5b carries a reserve roller 6 from which a material web 2b is fed intothe machine 1, when the material web 20 coming from the roller 4 hasbeen used up.

The material web 2a is fed from the storage reel 4 over a tensioningdevice, comprising two rollers 8, 9, mounted on a rocker arm 7 and twostationary rollers 10, 11, to a table 12a. From this table, the materialweb 20 is fed over a press roller 13 and a guide roller 14 to themachine 1. Equalizing rollers 15, 16, 17 may be provided between theroller 14 and the machine 1, of which the rollers 15 and 17 arestationary and the roller 16 displaceable, as indicated in the drawing,causing the web to form a loop. Adjustment of the roller 16 makes itpossible to change the size of the loop and to adapt it to the spacingbetween the centering marks. The material web 2b passes over anidentically constructed tensioning device to table 12b. When it issupplied to the machine 1, it passes over a counter-roller 18 and thenalong the same path as the Web 2a.

The pressure roller 13 is mounted on a lever 19, pivotable about thespindle of the roller 14 and may be pressed against the rigidly mountedcounter-roller 18, for example, by means of a pressure magnet 20. Thetwo rollers .13 and 18 are positively connected by a driving belt 21 sothat no accelerating forces can occur when the two rollers are pressedagainst each other.

The table 12a carries a sensing member 22a and a brake 23a. The sensingmember 22a responds, when the end of the material web 2a passesthereunder. The brake 23a prevents the web 2a from running backwards. Asshown by the dotted line, the sensing member 22a may be longitudinallydisplaceable on the table 12a to enable it to be adapted to the varyinggaps between the centering marks. The table 12b carries an equivalentsensing member 22b and a brake 23b.

FIG. 2 shows, on an enlarged scale, the ends of the tables 12a, 12b andthe rollers 13 and 18. The process of joining the two material webs 2a,2b will now be explained with reference to this figure.

Whilst the material web 2a is processed or used in the machine 1, anoperator pulls the leading end of the material web 2b off the reel 6 andthreads it through the tensioning device onto the table 12b until itsleading edge 2b is exactly over the center of the press roller 18. Thefirst centering mark 3 is spaced at y from the leading edge 2b. Ifnecessary, the web is trimmed accordingly. .Next, an adhesive strip 24is so glued to the underside of the web 2b that it projects beyond theedge 2b and rests with its non-sticky surface on the press roller 18.The sticky surface of the adhesive strip 24 is facing outwardly. Theadhesive strip must surround the roller 18 sufficiently to make contactwith the material web 2a and to adhere thereto, when the roller 13 ispressed against the roller 18.

When the trailing end 2a of the used web 2a passes on the tableunderneath the sensing member 22a, the same transmits a signal to amemory which stores this signal. At periodically repeating intervals, atwhich the conditions for the correct joining of the webs are present, atransmitter, synchronized with the machine 1 or with the periodicallypassing centering marks transmits a signal. Such a signal causes thewinding of the press magnet to be energized, if a signal transmitted bythe sensing device 22a has been stored in the memory so that the roller13 is pressed against the roller 18. In this manner, the Webs 2a and 2bare joined. Then a new storage reel may be mounted on the holder 5a andits leading end may be prepared on the table 12a, as described inconjunction with table 12b.

As shown in FIG. 3, the material webs may be joined in two ways. Eitherthe edges of the two webs are one behind the other, or the two webs 2a,2b overlap one another by an amount 2. It is only necessary that thedistance between the last or penultimate centering mark on the web 2aand the first centering mark on the web 2b corresponds to the spacingbetween the other centering marks on both webs.

An embodiment of a memory device is shown, by way of example, in FIGS. 4and 5, whilst the associated electric circuit diagram of the arrangementis shown in FIG. 6.

A disc 30, driven synchronously at a transmission ratio of 4:1 with thepassage of the centering marks 3 on the material webs 2a and 2b, andserving as a transmitter, carries four contact pins 31, 32, 33, 34,displaceable across the plane of the disc On one side of the disc 30,there is an electromagnet whose winding is energized when the sensingdevice 22a or 22b is actuated. In consequence, the next of the pins 31to 34 passing within the range of the electromagnet is moved into astorage position, shown for the pin 31 in FIG. 5. In addition, twoelectric switches 37, 38 are arranged along the periphery of the disc 30and are operated by the contact pins 31 to 34, when one of these hasbeen moved into the storage position by the magnet 35. The disc revolvesin the direction of the arrow 5 so that a contact pin moved into theactuating position by the magnet 35 actuates first the switch 37 andthen the switch 38. A return member 39 pushes the pin from the storageposition back into the inoperative position when the disc 30 continuesto revolve.

The operation of the storage device will now be explained with referenceto the circuit diagram in FIG. 6, showing two switches arranged in thesensing devices 22a, 22b of FIG. 1. A relay 1 actuates the switchingcontact a, and a whilst a relay B actuates the switching contacts b1 andb2.

The trailing edge of the material web 2a closes the switch of thesensing member 22a. This causes the magnet 35 to be energized so that,for example, contact pin 31 is pushed into an operating position. At thesame time, a signal lamp 40 lights up. Since the machine continues torun, the disc 30 rotates so that the switch 37 is closed by the contactpin 31 after a certain time interval. The relay A is energized and thecontacts a; and a close, causing the magnet 20 to be energized. Thismagnet presses the roller 13 against the roller 18, and the web 2a isjoined to the web 2b. Next the pin 31 closes the switch 38 whichenergizes the relay B. This relay actuates the contacts b1 and b2 sothat the magnet 35 and the relay A, and with it also the press magnet20, are de-energized. The relay B and the signal lamp remain energizeduntil a new storage reel 4 has been prepared.

The embodiment of FIGS. 7 and 8 uses another storage principle. Itcomprises a cam plate 41, running synchronously, for example, at thetransmission ratio of 1:1, with the centering marks 3 on the materialwebs 2a and 2b, and driven by the machine 1. The switches 37 and 38 areactuated by the cam 42.

The cam plate revolves in the direction of the arrow S so that first theswitch 37 and then the switch 38 are actuated. The operation of thisembodiment will be explained with reference to the circuit diagram inFIG. 8.

This circuit diagram shows the two switches arranged in the sensingmembers 22a, 22b in FIG. l. The relay A actuates the contacts 01, a2 and03, whilst the relay B actuates the contacts b1 and b2. When the sensingmember 22a is actuated by the trailing edge of the material web 20, thesignal emitted by the sensor 22a is recorded in the system and stored.Since the cam plate 41 with the cam 42 revolves in the direction of thearrow, the switch 37 is first closed after a certain time interval. Therelay A is energized, the contacts a1, a2 and a3 close and the pressmagnet 20 is energized. The magnet presses the roller 13 against theroller 18 and the trailing end of the web 2a is joined to the leadingend of the web 2b. Next the cam 42 closes the switch 38 and the relay Bis energized, actuating the contacts b1 and b2, so that the relay A andthe press magnet 20 are de-energized. When a new reel 4 is mounted onthe holder 5a and the material web is prepared as in FIG. 2, thestarting position is restored.

To enable the device to be accurately adjusted, both the sensing devices22a, 22b and the switches 37 and 38 are displaceable.

The described mechanical transmitter may also be replaced by aphoto-electric transmitter. In this case the cam of the cam plate isreplaced by a centering mark on the web and the switches 37 and 38 byphoto-electric cells. The storage of the signal emitted by the sensingdevice 22a or 22b may also be effected, for example by a timing relay,as known in the art.

The adjustment of the machine from the material webs 2a or 2b tomaterial webs with dilferently spaced centering marks may be effectedselectively as follows:

(a) Adjustment of switches 37 and 38;

(b) Shifting the reversing roller;

(c) Adjusting the tables 12a, 12b with rollers 13 and 18 relative to theholders 5a and 5b for storage reels, or relative to the machine.

Under certain conditions the sensing devices 22a and 225 may have to beadjusted in all three cases.

I claim:

1. In a processing machine, particularly a packing machine, for joininga pair of webs at a trailing and leading end whilst maintainingpredetermined spacings between centering marks provided on the webs, apair of displaceable rollers between which the leading end of one web isheld whilst the other web runs therethrough, means for urging saidrollers one against the other for joining the trailing end of said otherweb to said leading end, and a timing device comprising a sensing membercapable of being actuated by the trailing end to initiate a signal forjoining the ends together, a memory for storing said signal untileffective joining can take place and a signal transmitter synchronizedwith the machine to trigger off the joining if the memory contains asignal transmitted by the sensing member.

2. A device according to claim 1 in which the pair of displaceablerollers are mutually, positively and drivingly connected.

3. A device according to claim 1 in which a table is arranged in frontof the displaceable rollers for carrying out the preparation to theleading end of the web.

4. A device according to claim 1 in which a disc driven synchronouslywith the passage of the centering marks serves as the memory, contactpins on said disc and a first magnet controlled by the sensing memberbeing provided to displace said contact pins from an inoperativeposition into a storage position.

5. A device according to claim 4 in which said disc functions as atransmitter.

6. A device according to claim 4 in which a second magnet actuates thedisplaceable rollers to initiate the joining of the webs upon actuationof a switch by said contact pins in the storage position.

7. A device according to claim 1 in which a time relay serves as saidmemory.

8. In a processing machine, particularly a packing machine, for joininga pair of webs at a trailing and leading end whilst maintainingpredetermined spacings between centering marks provided on the webs, apair of displaceable rollers between which the leading end of one web isheld whilst the other web runs the-rethrough, means for urging saidrollers one against the other for joining the trailing end of said otherweb to said leading end, and a timing device comprising a sensing membercapable of being actuated by the trailing end to initiate a signal forjoining the ends together, a memory for storing said signal untileffective joining can take place and a signal transmitter synchronizedwith the passage of the web to trigger off the joining if the memorycontains a signal transmitted by the sensing member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,003,542 10/1961 Butler 156-3503,266,968 8/1966 Von Gunten 156-368 3,347,960 10/1967 Fenley 264-40 10ROBERT C. BAILEY, Primary Examiner.

R. B. ZACHE, Assistant Examiner.

1. IN A PROCESSING MACHINE, PARTICULARLY A PACKING MACHINE, FOR JOININGA PAIR OF WEBS AT A TRAILING AND LEADING END WHILST MAINTAININGPREDETERMINED SPACINGS BETWEEN CENTERING MARKS PROVIDED ON THE WEBS, APAIR OF DISPLACEABLE ROLLERS BETWEEN WHICH THE LEADING END OF ONE WEB ISHELD WHILST THE OTHER WEB RUNS THERETHROUGH, MEANS FOR URGING SAIDROLLERS ONE AGAINST THE OTHER FOR JOINING THE TRAILING END OF SAID OTHERWEB TO SAID LEADING END, AND A TIMING DEVICE COMPRISING A SENSING MEMBERCAPABLE OF BEING ACTUATED BY THE TRAILING END TO INITIATE A SIGNAL FORJOINING THE ENDS TOGETHER, A MEMORY FOR STORING SAID SIGNAL UNTILEFFECTIVE JOINING CAN TAKE PLATE AND A SIGNAL TRANSMITTER SYNCHRONIZEDWITH THE MACHINE TO TRIGGER OFF THE JOINING IF THE MEMORY CONTAINS ASIGNAL TRANSMITTED BY THE SENSING MEMBER.